Husker Runner
Starter
My wife and I had a rare night away from the kids on Saturday because they were at sleepovers, so we took the opportunity to go see "District 9" since I had heard a lot of good things about it. Things like "it's an instant sci-fi classic up there with "Blade Runner", "Alien", and "Children of Men"". We go out to about two movies a year so I was really looking forward to it.
I guess the bar is set pretty low for what passes as a "classic" movie these days. It was OK, but certainly not great. Up there with "Blade Runner" or "Children of Men"? Not even close.
MY REVIEW
The first 20 minutes or so of "District 9 "is shot documentary-style and is a mildly clever way to introduce the back story, but it goes on about ten minutes longer than necessary, the "shaky cam" is distracting, and some of it is just downright corny. One million aliens have become stranded on Earth, where humans have forced them to live in District 9, a giant slum surrounded by huge walls. Even though the aliens were able to build an advanced spaceship (and advanced weaponry, the source of one of the many major plotholes) and travel to our planet, they are apparently not too intelligent. While the movie is portrayed as an allegorical commentary on apartheid--"hey, let's set the movie in Johannesburg so even clueless people get how deep our message is!--we get the point quickly, and then the allegory is almost entirely (and almost fatally) abandoned once the action starts.
The aliens speak in a series of grunts and other odd noises, but fortunately all of the humans in the movie understand alien and the aliens understand English. The aliens have an insatiable desire for cat food; wait, is this a metaphor for drugs? Those clever filmmakers.
The lead and somewhat odd choice for the protagonist is a bureaucrat responsible for relocating the aliens to a point far outside of Johannesburg, District 10. During the beginning documentary (the movie later occasionally falls back into documentary style filming even when it makes no sense that cameras would be there), something happens to our protagonist that sets up the final 2/3 of the movie and he becomes the Most Wanted Man in the World. All sorts of bad guys want to catch him. It's here that we get into the meat of the plot. Unfortunately, the movie soon devolves into nothing more than a small twist on the same "mismatched buddies getting chased by bad guys, with substantial plot holes" movie that we've seen a million times. Gunfire, supercool weapons and lots of blood fill the screen to hide the fact that nothing very new or original is happening.
The filmmakers borrow liberally from other science fiction movies, like they spent a weekend watching a bunch of rented DVDs to see how to make a classic science fiction movie. Oh, the giant suit Sigourney Weaver wears at the end of "Aliens" was cool, let's do something like that! Jeff Goldblum looked horrible at the end of "The Fly", let's make our alien faces look kind of like that! Wow, the bad guys are firing thousands of shots at the protagonists but somehow can't quite get them! It's a good thing that bad guys are always bad shots and then take their time killing the good guy when they finally have him cornered. Bad guys need to watch more Hollywood movies because that hesitation never works out well. Yawn. Ridiculously, while the good guys (if you can call them that) are dodging and deflecting AK-47 gunfire that rivals "Blackhawk Down" (with the help of a trash can lid!), they even have time for a touching and heroic parting amongst all the shooting. (I'm not giving much away with that.)
I could list some of the significant plot holes but they would be spoilers. Suffice it to say that logic will have to be suspended to enjoy this movie. It's been said that science fiction doesn't have to be realistic, but it should be believable. "District 9" is neither.
The (no name) actors do an adequate job in mostly paper thin roles that don't ask for much. Don't expect character development out of any except the main character. Lead actor Sharlto Copley (as Wikus Van De Merwe) does a credible job; even though I found his character to be quite annoying at times, I suspect he was playing the part he was asked to play and I don't fault him for that.
The CGI is outstanding; one benefit for hiring no name actors is that it left plenty in the $30 million budget to create excellent special effects. An impressive feat, to be sure. Fans that value effects above plot will find this movie enjoyable.
Perhaps the most credit of all should go to the people who crafted the viral marketing campaign for this movie. It was brilliantly executed. They certainly suckered me into it.
The movie never has anything very significant to say; it is more interested in showing how different alien weapons can blow humans to bits and splatter blood on the screen. If you like chase movies, cool looking aliens, lots of killing (human and alien) and gore and loud explosions, and don't mind huge plot holes or overused cliches, then this movie is fine and probably better than most. There is certainly plenty of action. Too bad the action never takes us anywhere we haven't been a thousand times before. It could have been so much more.
Rating: 6/10
If and when the sequel ("District 10"?) comes out, I'll wait for the DVD and go in with lower expectations. Fool me once, shame on you...
I guess the bar is set pretty low for what passes as a "classic" movie these days. It was OK, but certainly not great. Up there with "Blade Runner" or "Children of Men"? Not even close.
MY REVIEW
The first 20 minutes or so of "District 9 "is shot documentary-style and is a mildly clever way to introduce the back story, but it goes on about ten minutes longer than necessary, the "shaky cam" is distracting, and some of it is just downright corny. One million aliens have become stranded on Earth, where humans have forced them to live in District 9, a giant slum surrounded by huge walls. Even though the aliens were able to build an advanced spaceship (and advanced weaponry, the source of one of the many major plotholes) and travel to our planet, they are apparently not too intelligent. While the movie is portrayed as an allegorical commentary on apartheid--"hey, let's set the movie in Johannesburg so even clueless people get how deep our message is!--we get the point quickly, and then the allegory is almost entirely (and almost fatally) abandoned once the action starts.
The aliens speak in a series of grunts and other odd noises, but fortunately all of the humans in the movie understand alien and the aliens understand English. The aliens have an insatiable desire for cat food; wait, is this a metaphor for drugs? Those clever filmmakers.
The lead and somewhat odd choice for the protagonist is a bureaucrat responsible for relocating the aliens to a point far outside of Johannesburg, District 10. During the beginning documentary (the movie later occasionally falls back into documentary style filming even when it makes no sense that cameras would be there), something happens to our protagonist that sets up the final 2/3 of the movie and he becomes the Most Wanted Man in the World. All sorts of bad guys want to catch him. It's here that we get into the meat of the plot. Unfortunately, the movie soon devolves into nothing more than a small twist on the same "mismatched buddies getting chased by bad guys, with substantial plot holes" movie that we've seen a million times. Gunfire, supercool weapons and lots of blood fill the screen to hide the fact that nothing very new or original is happening.
The filmmakers borrow liberally from other science fiction movies, like they spent a weekend watching a bunch of rented DVDs to see how to make a classic science fiction movie. Oh, the giant suit Sigourney Weaver wears at the end of "Aliens" was cool, let's do something like that! Jeff Goldblum looked horrible at the end of "The Fly", let's make our alien faces look kind of like that! Wow, the bad guys are firing thousands of shots at the protagonists but somehow can't quite get them! It's a good thing that bad guys are always bad shots and then take their time killing the good guy when they finally have him cornered. Bad guys need to watch more Hollywood movies because that hesitation never works out well. Yawn. Ridiculously, while the good guys (if you can call them that) are dodging and deflecting AK-47 gunfire that rivals "Blackhawk Down" (with the help of a trash can lid!), they even have time for a touching and heroic parting amongst all the shooting. (I'm not giving much away with that.)
I could list some of the significant plot holes but they would be spoilers. Suffice it to say that logic will have to be suspended to enjoy this movie. It's been said that science fiction doesn't have to be realistic, but it should be believable. "District 9" is neither.
The (no name) actors do an adequate job in mostly paper thin roles that don't ask for much. Don't expect character development out of any except the main character. Lead actor Sharlto Copley (as Wikus Van De Merwe) does a credible job; even though I found his character to be quite annoying at times, I suspect he was playing the part he was asked to play and I don't fault him for that.
The CGI is outstanding; one benefit for hiring no name actors is that it left plenty in the $30 million budget to create excellent special effects. An impressive feat, to be sure. Fans that value effects above plot will find this movie enjoyable.
Perhaps the most credit of all should go to the people who crafted the viral marketing campaign for this movie. It was brilliantly executed. They certainly suckered me into it.
The movie never has anything very significant to say; it is more interested in showing how different alien weapons can blow humans to bits and splatter blood on the screen. If you like chase movies, cool looking aliens, lots of killing (human and alien) and gore and loud explosions, and don't mind huge plot holes or overused cliches, then this movie is fine and probably better than most. There is certainly plenty of action. Too bad the action never takes us anywhere we haven't been a thousand times before. It could have been so much more.
Rating: 6/10
If and when the sequel ("District 10"?) comes out, I'll wait for the DVD and go in with lower expectations. Fool me once, shame on you...
Last edited by a moderator:
